Archives For July 2006

I was at the game Friday night, where the Lakers faced off against the Washington Wizards, who just flew in from competing in the Vegas Summer League. If you want to know what I thought of the Wizards players (hint: Blatche was very impressive) head on over to True Hoop. Otherwise, letâ€™s talk Lakers, and remember that what I put here is looking to build on previous comments about players.

Andrew Bynum: The curse is over â€” Bynum had a big game in my presence (which is a huge weight off my shoulders because I was afraid Iâ€™d have to stay away from Staples for a decade based on superstition). Bynum, matched up on 7-4 John Ramos, showed a variety of moves: drop steps, power moves, a short-range jumper and, most impressively, a fadaway from about seven feet that he drained two of (one baseline, one straight on). Part of it may also have been he got the cleanest entry passes to the post I had seen from the Lakers this summer. He finished with a team-high 19 points on 9 of 13 shooting, and pulled down eight boards. Another aspect of Bynumâ€™s game, something heâ€™s done well throughout the SPL, is pass well from the post in traffic. Heâ€™s picked up a dozen assists in five games and could have a few more. Maybe the night off did him good, but against Washington Bynum looked like a guy who could be a solid 15 minutes a night guy for the Lakers next season.

Jordan Farmar: He was clearly banged up when he missed the game four because he played with his thigh wrapped Friday. He wasnâ€™t as sharp as we had seen, but still the offense just looked smoother when he was in. Farmar was impressive making plays in transition, particularly in the â€œgarbage timeâ€ at the end of the game. Farmar finished with 13 points of 4 of 9 shooting (one of 2 from three) and maybe his most impressive shot (one he has shown in a couple games now) is a running floater in the lane, similar to the shot Tony Parker made a living on this past season. Defensively he was not as sharp, struggling to stay in front of quick former Clemson player Will Solomon, but that may have been impacted by the thigh injury.

Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock: Another solid, impressive performance at both ends of the floor. He plays good man defense on guys both a little smaller and quicker and a little bigger (he is strong). Pinnock also went 6 of 7 from the floor and finished with 13 points. Each time I see him the more I think I want to see him make the team come fall.

Two other guys worth mentioning for their performance of late are Doron Perkins and Kasib Powell. Perkins has been playing at a level at or equal to Pinnock the last couple games, both defensively (he had four steals against Washington) and on offense â€” in the last two games he is 10 of 16 from the floor, 2 of 6 from three, plus he got to the line for 11 free throws, combing it all for 33 points. Perkins has looked better and better each game. Powell got the start against Washington and was 4 of 7 from the floor and pulled down 4 boards. Both of these guys deserve invites to training camp, although with a full roster itâ€™s hard to see where they make the team.

This is pretty routine stuff these days, and Kobe should be ready to go at the start of Laker training camp, although he may come along slowly through it. That doesnâ€™t bother me, Kobeâ€™s the guy Iâ€™m least worried about being ready to go when it matters.

However, Kobe will not play for Team USA this summer in the World Championships in Japan. Odom has opted not to play as well, for obvious reasons. So no Lakers on the squad.

Iâ€™ve got more Summer Pro League notes, but this took priority, Iâ€™ll have those up before the weekend is out (I do have a new post up on non-Lakers at True Hoop).

I caught half of the game against Dallas on Wednesday and a little more than a quarter against Memphis last night, and out of that is a continuation of my thoughts on the Lakers participating. (Note, so far I have been pretty light on stats, in part because weâ€™re just four games in now and in part because it is not online and has to be hand-entered. Iâ€™ll play around with it at the end of the two weeks.)

Jordan Farmar: He did not play in game four Wednesday and that absence may have been the best indication of his impact â€” without him the triangle looked far less crisp, less organized. In just a few games he has an intuitive grasp of the offense and has established himself as the leader of this team on the court. Suddenly, itâ€™s not hard to imagine a second unit that has him and Luke Walton on the floor running the offense in a way that will make Tex Winter smile. His defense continues to be good much of the time (he did well on fellow a draftee, the very quick Kyle Lowry, in game three). That said, he still has plenty of that need improvement â€” he is 2 of 8 from beyond the arc (although he looked more confident from the outside in game three), he struggles defensively fighting through picks, and there is more.

But one statistic makes me smile â€” he has an amazing true shooting percentage of 72.1% through three games. For the new readers here, TS% is basically a way of figuring points per shot attempt, and it counts free throws (something Farmar draws a lot of) and points scored. (If you scored two points every time you shot, your TS% would be 100%). For some comparison, last season Brian Cook led the Lakers at 57.8%, Kobe was at 55.9%. Sure itâ€™s three games in the Summer League, the Farmar is showing he belongs.

Andrew Bynum: I am apparently kryptonite to Bynum â€” all reports are he had a great second game (vs. Dallas) and a great first half of game three (vs. Memphis), none of which I saw. However, he was pedestrian at best in the fourth quarter against Memphis or in the first half of game four (vs. Dallas), which I did see. What that speaks to is inconsistency, even within a game, certainly a sign of youth. But, heâ€™s being inconsistent against less-than-NBA-level talent, so what happens when he starts getting more minutes this fall?

On defense, Bynum moves well but he wants to block every shot heâ€™s near (especially if he can come from the weak side for it) and that leads to foul issues. He does better when just using his length to alter some of those shots. Heâ€™s also pulled down an average of 9 boards a game through the first three games. However, against what should have been a Dallas team he could push around inside, he was the one getting outworked and muscled for rebounds (he doesnâ€™t seem yet to anticipate where the ball will come off the rim well yet). And, his shot got blocked twice by Brian Boddicker (the fact you donâ€™t know him says all you need to know). In Bynumâ€™s defense, when I have seen him he has not been getting good entry passes, although he has been slow to give up a little position for possession. Apparently those entry passes, and what he does with the ball, are a lot better when Iâ€™m not watching. That said, heâ€™s still dramatically improved from last year, if not the end of last season.

Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock: While fans knew what they were getting in Bynum and Farmar, Pinnock is the guy that has become a fan favorite for what he has done game in and game out. In game four, he was the best initiator of the triangle the team had with Farmar sitting out. His play in the first three minutes of game four may have been the highlights of the entire game â€”he blocked a shot, grabbed a rebound for a one-handed put-back dunk, and had a highlight dunk on a back-door ally-oop from Green that literally collapsed the basket (the entire portable basket structure came down into its folded position).

Pinnock does a lot of things well, driving the lane, shooting and playing hard on defense. He hustles after rebounds (a guard who pulls down 13 boards in the first three games. His combination of anticipation and hustle means he gets lots of loose balls.

Devin Green: Continues to impress by just seeming to be the guy quietly doing whatever the team needs. His basketball IQ is very good and that works well in the triangle. At times he has shown a nice outside stroke, although through four games his eFG% is a pedestrian 45.6%.

Von Wafer: After going 2 of 11 in the first two games and looking lost in the offense, Wafter has tried to revert to the Wafter of last yearâ€™s SPL â€” a gunner. He has been 11 of 25 (with an eFG% of 52%) in the last two games, and has taken the ball to the hole aggressively. There has been a sense of desperation around his game, you can almost feel him realizing heâ€™s going to have to fight for a roster spot now. That said, he continues to do well freelancing but has yet to look comfortable within the triangle (such as it is in the summer league).

Marcus Slaughter: After not turning my head in the first three games, he had a nice game four that started to show his potential. He played the four in college, but in the NBA heâ€™d be a three, and there were questions of whether his midrange game was up to it, Well, against Dallas Wednesday he was 7 of 9 overall, much of that in the midrange, and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. He also had six rebounds and three steals in this game. Heâ€™s athletic and showed a lot of potential Wednesday.

Itâ€™s pretty clear Iâ€™m not on Shammondâ€™s bandwagon, but the more Iâ€™ve thought about it the more I realize my concerns are less about Shammond than with team direction. As Sanchez101 put well in the comments, Mitch Kupchak has taken a page from the Ned Colletti school of building a bullpen â€” bring in a bunch of cheap guys and hope one pans out. Thatâ€™s what the Lakers have done at the one â€” last year Smush was one of those cheap players who worked out pretty well, this year Shammond is just one of the darts being thrown at the board. Iâ€™ll add, and itâ€™s early to say this, but after watching a few games I think by January Jordan Farmar could be the guy subbing out Smush.

Todayâ€™s two signings should make the Lakers a more dangerous offensive team â€” both guys can shoot the ball from the outside and space a defense. And maybe Mitch believes that was the top off-season priority, the one that makes this a 50-win team in the West and gets us to the second round of the playoffs (or beyond).

But I still think what will set teams apart in the coming years is the ability to adjust defensively to the new rule enforcement â€” the teams that use good defensive players on the perimeter and good defensive rotations inside to, as much as possible, negate the impact of great perimeter players and the rules that now enable them. Having players, such as Kobe (and to a lesser degree Odom) who can exploit the rules enforcement is key, but the top teams will all have a guy or guys like that, defense is what will put teams over the top.

And, as they stand today, I think the Lakers are a worse defensive team than they were last year, particularly on the perimeter. And I fear that may offset the offensive improvement. I hope Iâ€™m wrong, maybe in year or so Farmar is that defensive guy, but thatâ€™s my concern about the off-season so far.

Matt was one of the pioneer NBA bloggers, one of the handful of guys I was reading before I started this blog and in part paterened it after. Now his Chicago Bulls blog is turning three, which in the world of blogging makes him like Tex Winter’s age. And like Tex he continues to do good work.